The history of philosophy. The man in the center of everything and who was Socrates?
Philosophy in Athens
They are often called naturophilosophists and presocratives because they lived before Socrates. It is true that Demokritus died a few years after Socrates, but yet his whole mind belongs to the pre-narrated naturophysiology. Socrates is like a borderline not only in terms of the age. We change the place of action as geography. Socrates was the first philosopher born in Athens, and both he and his two followers, Plato and Aristotle, lived there and worked. Anaxagoros also spent some time there but was ousted because he considered the sun a fireball. From the time of Socrates, Athens became the center of ancient Greek culture. When we move from naturophysophos to Socrates, it is more important to remember that the philosophy is basically changing. Before we met Socrates, however, let's learn more about the so-called Sophists, who at that time defined the look of the city of Athens.
The man in the center of everything
About 450 BCE Athens has become a cultural center of the ancient Greek world, and the philosophy itself has taken on a new direction. Naturiphylosophists were above all explorers of nature, so they occupy an important place in the history of science. In Athens, however, interest was increasingly concentrated on man and his place in society. Gradually the city developed democracy with a national assembly and courts. One of the prerequisites for democracy was the fact that people were given enough knowledge to participate in democratic processes. Nowadays, we see that young democracy always needs national enlightenment. For the Athenians, the most important thing was to master the art of speech (rhetoric). Soon from the Greek colonies to Athens there were streams of traveling teachers and philosophers. They were called sophists. The word "sophist" means a wise and highly educated person in a particular field. In Athens these people made their living by educating the citizens.
The Sophists had an important common position with the naturophysophists, namely, that they were critical of the mythological traditions. At the same time, they denied everything they considered unnecessary philosophical speculation. Even if there are answers to many philosophical questions, they say, people will never understand the secrets of nature and the universe. Such a view in philosophy is called skepticism. But while we can not find an answer to all the natural mysteries, we still know we are human and we must learn to live together. Sophists decided to be interested in man and his place in society. "Man is a measure of all things," says Sophist Protagor (about 487-420 BC). According to him, righteousness and unrighteousness, good and evil must always be judged in accordance with human needs. When asked whether he believed in the Greek gods, he replied: "The problem is difficult, and life is short." A man who claims to be unclear whether or not he is a god, we call an agnostic. The Sophists often took long journeys and thus became familiar with various systems of government. The customs and laws of the different city states are very different. In this regard, the sophists in Athens started a dispute about what is defined by nature and what is created by society. On this basis, created a basis for public criticism in the city of Athens. Sturdy discussions among Athenian society prompted traveling sophists when they began to argue that there were no absolute norms of justice and injustice. In contrast, Socrates tried to prove that some norms were truly absolute and valid.
Who was Socrates?
Socrates (470-399 BC) is perhaps the most enigmatic person in the history of philosophy. He has not written a line. However, he is one of those who have the most influence on the European way of thinking. The fact that people who are engage with philosophy know about him can probably be explained by his dramatic death. We know he was born in Athens and spent his life mostly on markets and streets where he talked to everybody. He did not see what he could learn in the Polish expanse or among the trees. He could stay long hours in deep reflection. Still alive, they considered him as a mysterious person, and very soon after his death he began to point it as the founder of various philosophical trends. Too different schools managed to "stitch" his name to his views precisely because he was mysterious and meaningful. He must have been ugly. Low, thick, glazed eyes and a nose. But his inner peace, he said, was "perfect and wonderful". There was another saying: Equal to him is neither in the present nor in the past. However, because of his philosophical activity, he was sentenced to death. Socrates' life is known to us mainly because of Plato, his disciple and one of the greatest philosophers in history. Plato has written many dialogues, or philosophical conversations, whose character is Socrates. The essence of Socrates was that he did not seek to teach people. Instead, he created the impression that he himself wanted to learn something from his interlocutor. So he did not teach as an ordinary teacher. No, he did a conversation.
Yet if he had only listened to others, he would not become such a famous philosopher. Only because of such conversations would they, of course, not be condemned to death. At the beginning, he was asking more questions and pretended that he did not know anything. In the course of the conversation he forced the interlocutor himself to realize the weak spots in his reasoning. Frequently the interlocutor was in a dead end and was finally forced to know what was fair and unfair. According to the tradition, Socrates' mother was a midwife, and he compared her work with the art of making children. Socrates believed that his calling was to help people at the birth of the right view. For true knowledge must come from within. Only the knowledge that comes from within is a true "insight." So when he imagined ignorance, Socrates forced people to serve reason. He was able to pretend to be an elusive and stupid. This is what we call Socratic irony. In this way he revealed new weaknesses in the Athenian thinking. Sometimes it was in the middle of the square in front of everyone's eyes. A conversation with him could expose you and make you ridiculous in the eyes of many people. And it is no wonder that Socrates finally began to annoy- especially the rulers. Athena looks like a sluggish mare, Socrates says, and he likened himself to a horn that stamped her on her hip to keep her consciousness awake.
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I love this kind of work, Greek mythology, it's fascinating, it's a good job, successes, THANKS for sharing!
You are welcome :)